Ice cracker



April 23, J. 5. BRADLEY ET AL 1,998,705

l 7 ICE CRAGKER Filed Sept. 25, 1931 ATToRNEY- Patented A r. 23, 1935UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,998,705 or; CRACKER John S. Bradley, NewYork, N. Y., and John Dyer, South 0range,-N. J.

Application September 23, 1931, Serial No. 564,530

2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to devices for cracking ice, and inparticular ice cubes, such as are manufactured in modern householdmechanical refrigerators.

Present clayv mechanical refrigerators for houseout being pulverized.

Previous devices of this general character have been, in effect,grinders which, in various ways, grind up the ice or in the nature ofshavers which chip a thin layer from the surface. All of these formsreduce the ice to a substantially pulverized state. For many purposes,particularly shaker drinks, the ice should not be so finely groundbecause it melts too rapidly diluting the beverage and, for the samereason, failing to function effectively as one of the chief agents inthoroughly mixing and aerating it.

One of the major novel results which our invention has attained is thecracking of ice cubes into chunks substantially all of which are ofappreciable size as compared with the snow and thin chips to which theice is reduced by other devices, such as grinders and shavers. We haveobserved that ice and an ice cube in particular when subjected to acrushing pressure, as distinguished from a grinding or shaving action,resists the strain up to a certain critical point and then suddenlyburstsv asunder into chunks of the proper size and with the productionof only a very minor amount of pieces small enough to be compared withthose produced by grinding or shaving. Our invention is so designed thata heavy pressure may be applied to an ice cube with little effort tocrack it as described above and in this it is to be distinguished fromrotary and other devices which chew up or pick at the ice.

Two forms of our invention are illustrated by the accompanying drawing;

Figure 1 is a view in perspective partly broken away of one form of ourinvention;

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of another form.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the cracking cylinderillustrating one manner in which the cylinder may be mounted and inwhich the operatinghandle may be attached thereto;

and

Fig. 4. is a fragmentary plan view of one form of cracking cylinder.

In the forms illustrated, our inventioncomprises a box-like body Icomposed of sides! and 3 and end 4. Top 5 and end Bmay be left openalthough, if desired, the top may also be closed and the end 6 providedwith-a hinged closure Ii which can be opened by means of ahandle v6 topermit the insertion of an ice cube. Preferably the bottom I is opensave'for aseries of slats or ribs 8 suitably spaced to'suppo'rt an icevcube. Preferably the upper-surface of each rib. is in the form of aninverted V so that the ice cube will rest upon sharp edges, and it isalso desirable that the ribs run in a fore-and-aft direction, as shown.However, these details are not essential.

In suitable bearings in sides 2 and 3 a crushing cylinder II iseccentrically mounted. It may be ternate, large and smaller diameters II and I I respectively, having sloping sides to form, in effect, knifeedges. It may also be cross cut longitudinally, if desired, so that thesurface takes the form of a series of small pyramids.

Beyond the bearing at each end of the cylinder, and projecting outwardlyfrom the sides 2 and 3, is a short stub I2 which may be square,hexagonal, fluted, or otherwise shaped to form a suitable operatingconnection between the crushing cylinder I I and ahandle I3. The handleI3 terminates in a fork I4, I5, at the ends of which holes or socketsare provided of suitable shape and size to operatively engage with stubsI2. Of course any other suitable form of connection between handle I3and cylinder I I may be employed. The design shown is simple,inexpensive and satisfactory and permits of adjustment of the handle I3to the position most convenient for the cracking of ice cubes of anygiven thickness. 7

The exact size and location of cylinder II may be left to those skilledin the art. It should be of such a size and so positioned that when inthe position shown in Fig. 1 the space between its under, side and theribs 8 is rather small and in any event substantially less than thethickness of an ice cube,'whereas when in the position gained byrotating the handle I3 through degrees, the space between the then underside of convenient receptacle. In the form shown in, Fig.

2 the cracker is provided with legs I 6 and I! by means of which it maybe mounted upon a base 53 or secured to a table and there is alsoincluded a tray is adapted to slide under the cracker be-' tween thelegs to receive the cracked ice.

The cracker operates as follows: Handle I3 is first swung from theposition shown in the drawing to prepare the cracker for the receptionof an ice cube by elevating cylinder I I as muchasnecessary. An ice cubeis then inserted and handle is is swung back towards its originalposition, which will also cause rotation" of cylinder ll. Since cylinderH is eccentrically mounted, as described above, such rotation will causeits surface to contact with the ice cubeand/as the rotation continues toexert a constantly increasing pressure upon it..unti1 it cracks or, tobemore accurately descriptive, bursts into a number of smaller chunks. Inshort, the "cylinder is in the nature of an elongated cam capable ofproducing greatpressure with easel The progressive character of thepressurethus produced, together with the knife edged or pyramidalcontour of the? cyl- 1 inder and the ribs,.will causethe ice to burst asheretofore described, rather. than to chip .or

cient strength to withstand the considerable pressures developed. Thiswill be understood and provided for by any one skilled in the art.

Our device is obviously susceptible of many modifications. For example,the top may be closed, if desired, or the bottom may be solid. Thecrushing means may be of some other general shape than that shown andits surface may be smooth or provided with other sorts of irregularitiesand, of course, the device may be made of suflicient size to accommodatemore than a single ice cube. However, such modifications would notconstitute departures from our invention. The particular forms which wehave shown and described are for purposes of illustration only, andnot-intended as limitations of the invention.

We claim:

l. A device for cracking ice cubes which consists of a receptacle havingtwo sides, a surface for supporting an ice cube and an abutment adjacentone end of said surface and at substantially a right angle thereto forlimiting the movement of the cube in that direction, a cracking elementsupported between the sides and having a cracking surface swingablesimultaneously towards said supporting surface and towards said abutmentto crack a cube held therebetween.

2. A device for cracking ice cubes which consists of a receptacle havingtwo sides, a surface for supporting'an ice cube and an abutment adjacentone end of said surface and at substantially a right angle thereto forlimiting the movement of the cube in that direction, a cracking elementhaving a substantially cylindrical cracking surface and swingablysupported between said sides upon an axis other than the normal axis ofsaid cylindrical surface, and means for swinging said cylindricalsurface simultaneously towards said supporting surface and saidabutment.

JOHN S. BRADLEY. JOHN W. DYER.

